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“Pound it!”
Chat Noir winked at Ladybug, deftly sliding a rose out of the flying florist’s bouquet. The poor chap had tried to paraglide over paris in hopes of speeding up his deliveries, but had only managed to put himself in peril. Luckily, Chat and Ladybug had been there to help. While more mundane than fighting akumas, doing simple civic good deeds always made Chat feel nice.
As the florist left the rooftop, Chat slid down on one knee, dramatically offering Ladybug the pilfered flower.
“For you, Milady,” he grinned.
The look of surprise on her face was priceless. It seemed no matter how many times Chat flirted with her, she never expected it. He didn’t have much time to admire the expression, however, as it quickly melted into one of amusement.
“Seriously, Chat? You’re about to transform back!” She brushed him off, as always.
Chat didn’t reply for a moment. He wanted to tell her he didn’t care if she knew who he was, that he only cared for her and their trust and their partnership. He wanted to tell her to run away with him and never look back.
Instead, he was jolted from his thoughts by Ladybug telling
him
something. Probably more about how she didn’t love him, no doubt.
“I can’t accept this rose from you, Chat. I’m in love with someone else, you know that.” She took a step towards the roof’s guardrail, hiding her face.
Yep
. Chat sighed and tried to hide his disappointment as he stood up and followed her, a few steps behind. “I know, Milady, but… if he weren’t here, would things be any different between us?”
Ladybug gazed over the rail, not taking her eyes from the skyline as she answered him. “Well, it’s just… I can’t even begin to imagine him not being here.” She turned around, eyes still downcast. “I’m sorry. I’ve really got to head back. You should, too.”
She launched her yo-yo, but before she had a chance to fly away, Chat grabbed hold of her wrist.
“Wait! I… will you at least tell me who he is?”
When Ladybug’s eyes finally met his own, he noticed her delicate eyebrows were knit in an unfamiliar curve of frustration.
“Chat, please, I--”
He cut her off with a slight tightening of his grip on her hand. He knew he was acting desperate, and he wondered why he had acted out when he did, why he had inspired that look of frustration, but it was too late to just pull back and let her go. He had to stick with his decision, even though he was beginning to regret it.
Shaking her head, Ladybug continued. “Haven’t we already established that wouldn’t help us keep our secret identities secret?”
“Yes, but…” Chat tried to think of a good argument. “I’m tired of there being so many secrets between us. Our identities have to stay secret, sure, but I want you to be able to trust me. I want to know I’m able to trust
you
. And, besides… maybe if I finally know, I can stop worrying about this. I can move on.” He was grasping at straws now, out of control but with too much momentum to stop himself.
Ladybug stayed silent for a moment, and then cocked her head. “If I tell you, does that mean you’ll stop asking me out to dinner every other mission?”
That hurt. Chat had only ever tried to be chivalrous, and he hadn’t thought his propositions annoyed Ladybug as much as they evidently seemed to. Looking away, he swallowed the unwelcome frog in his throat. “If that’s what you wish, it shall be done,” he replied. His attempt at keeping up his playfully theatrical demeanor fell flat, but Ladybug didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she took a deep breath.
“Okay, I’ll tell you. Just… please promise me you won’t Cataclysm his face off out of jealousy or something.”
“Of course not, Bugaboo! Besides, it must be a gorgeous face if it has captured your ladyship’s attention thus.” Chat looked back to her, trying to read her expression. Maybe he was more sensitive than usual in his adrenaline-fueled state, but her words continued to sting.
Is that what you truly think of me, Milady?
“You’re right. He’s incredible,” Ladybug sighed, cheeks flushed.
Damn,
Chat thought,
this girl is absolutely whipped. And I… am absolutely screwed.
Ladybug closed her eyes. “All right. I’m… I’m in love with Adrien Agreste.”
A jolt of electricity shot through Chat from ears to tail. He dropped Ladybug’s hand in surprise. His skin still tingling, he managed to choke out, “Wh-who?”
Ladybug opened her eyes and gestured to one of the billboards surrounding them. “Adrien Agreste.”
Chat looked up to see Adrien’s face plastered across a multitude of surfaces throughout the city. “Y-you mean… all this time… you were denying me because you’re in love with
him
?” A myriad of emotions bubbled inside him, and he couldn’t help laughing out loud.
One look from Ladybug told him this was a mistake. Her clear blue irises had turned icy, and her gaze communicated something Chat had never seen before. “Is this funny to you? I didn’t tell you just so you could laugh at me!” Although her words fell like arrows in the air around him, she blushed with what looked like embarrassment.
“No, I--” Chat was backpedaling, burying a smile and taking on a concerned expression. “I didn’t mean anything bad by it, it’s just… well, you and every other citizen of paris, Milady.”
She gave him a questioning look, her foot tapping impatiently.
“Love him, I mean. You and every other parisian citizen… love him. And for what? He’s just a prettyboy shut-in, stuck under his father’s thumb.” Chat’s words came out faster than he could think. He hoped Ladybug wouldn’t notice that the bitterness in his voice stemmed from exasperation he had so far only expressed to himself, rather than jealousy. “I don’t know, I guess I just thought the Great Ladybug would love someone a little more--”
“Stop.” Ladybug took a step towards him. “You don’t have any right to tell me who I should or shouldn’t love! Adrien is amazing. He’s a brilliant student, dedicated to everything he does. He has a gorgeous face and a successful career, sure, but most of all... he’s a loyal friend. He always supports those who are important to him!” Her speech reaching a climax, Ladybug seemed to notice she’d closed in on Chat until her face was nearly inches from his own, and backed away quickly. “I’m sorry. I never should have told you. I guess that’s one difference between the two of you-- Adrien would never make fun of a friend.” hopping up onto the rail, she caught his eyes once more. “A partner.”
“Wait, I’m sorry--” Chat reached out a moment too late. His claws just missed Ladybug’s heel as she shot away. Staring at his hand, he noticed the last spot on his ring begin to blink a warning. Blinking back tears himself, he extended his staff and vaulted over the sprawling skyline, soaring through his window into his room just in time. As the glow faded from his body and his clothes became normal again, Adrien grabbed hold of Plagg’s tail before he could dart off in search of cheese.
“Did you hear that, Plagg?”
“Eh?” Plagg’s arms and legs spun helplessly in midair as he tried to break Adrien’s grip. “Hear what?”
“Ladybug said she’s in love with Adrien Agreste! My Lady loves me!” He spun Plagg around in an improvised dance, unable to contain the excitement that mixed with his other emotions.
“She said that, did she? How’d you manage to drag it out of her?”
“I…” Adrien paused. “I grabbed her hand and didn’t let her go until she told me?”
Shit.
“I wasn’t really thinking, and now-- Plagg, what did I just do?”
“Listen, if you want me to discuss this with you, I’m going to need some food first. All your lovey-dovey talk is nauseating me.”
Reluctantly, Adrien let go of Plagg’s tail, watching the kwami zip over to pull a slice of camembert out of a cabinet.
“Ugh, I can’t believe I let you keep that stuff in here.” Adrien wrinkled his nose.
“We both know you’re too much of a softie to stop me,” Plagg smirked. “Now what’s this about your Lady?”
Adrien sighed, looking into his hands. “Well, I asked her who she loved again, and instead of respecting her privacy, I kind of… forced her to tell me.” His voice dropped in volume with every word.
“And?”
“And I totally shouldn’t have done that, and now I feel terrible!”
“No,” Plagg shook his head. “I meant,
and
, what did she tell you?”
“Oh. Well, she said she loved me. I mean, Adrien. Who is me. But she doesn’t know that.” Adrien flopped down on his bed with a huff. “Why is this so complicated?”
“Matters of the heart always are,” Plagg mused, inhaling another slice of camembert. “That’s why I generally stick only to matters of the stomach!”
Adrien smiled in spite of himself. “You know, for a kwami whose only joys are bad puns and stinky cheese, that was surprisingly astute.”
Plagg folded himself into a tiny yet comically exaggerated bow. “Many thanks, Master. My countless untold merits aside, you’re telling me Ladybug says she loves you?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to communicate for the past few minutes, yeah.”
“But what about all the times she told you she didn’t? Why should you believe her now? Besides, everyone in this city seems to be in love with you. She was probably just trying to protect her secret identity by picking as popular and relevant a guy as possible.”
“Glad to know you think I’m popular and relevant,” Adrien smiled, “But I don’t think that’s it. I wondered too at first, but the way she talked about him…
me
, she seemed so honest. She truly thinks I’m amazing.” Adrien blushed, but he quickly felt a pang of sheepish embarrassment. “And now I’ve hurt her feelings! God, what did I do?” He shot up in bed to sit cross-legged, grabbing Plagg by an ear as he tried to dart away again. “And that’s another thing! She said that Adrien and I-- that Chat Noir and I-- that we’re different, and that Adrien would never do some of the things Chat does, but how will she react when she finds out that I’m-- that he’s -- that
we’re
--”
“Whoa, calm down, Adrien!” Plagg placed a tiny paw on adrien’s clenched fist in what seemed to be an act of comfort before sticking his tongue out in disgust and retracting his arm. “She doesn’t need to find out. Now that you know she’s into you as Adrien or whatever, just approach her that way and see what happens. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go, uh, not talk to you anymore.” He wiggled out of Adrien’s grasp.
“Wait, but how am I supposed to-- never mind.” Adrien stood up and walked to his open window, letting the breeze flip through his hair as he stared into Paris. “Thank you, Milady. And I’m sorry.”
*****
Marinette swung through the trapdoor into her room. With a sound like a deflating balloon, she fell back onto her bed and waited for the transformation glow around her to fade. Curling up onto her side, she sniffed.
“Tikki, what have I done?”
“What is it, Marinette?” Tikki asked softly, coming to hover next to Marinette’s face.
“I told Chat Noir I’m in love with Adrien,” Marinette groaned.
Tikki blinked. “Oh, interesting! Why?”
“I don’t know!” Marinette curled up tighter and buried her face in her hands. “He wanted to know, said it would strengthen our trust or something, and… I felt bad keeping things from him, and I was worried it would jeopardize my identity but then I told him anyway andthenhelaughedatmeandthenI--”
“Oh, Marinette! I’m so sorry!” Tikki flew in zig-zags around Marinette’s hands, trying to pull them from her face. “Calm down, tell me what happened. I’m sure things aren’t as bad as you think.”
Peeking hesitantly through her fingers, Marinette took a deep breath, trying to organize her thoughts. “Chat and I had just finished saving a florist and he tried to offer me a rose-- Chat, not the florist, and I told him I couldn’t accept it because I loved someone else, but he asked me who it was and I could’ve left but I hesitated and he made a pretty compelling argument I guess so I told him but then he laughed which was unexpected and he said some weird stuff so I shouted at him and then I left!” She gasped for air, not realizing until she had finished that she’d gotten out the whole jumbled sentence without a single breath in the middle.
“Okay, Marinette,” Tikki began slowly, “Let’s start from the beginning. You were leaving, but you hesitated as he asked his question?”
“He… he grabbed hold of my hand. I could have pulled away, but when I saw his eyes… it was clearly important for him to know.” She looked down at her hands, studying them a moment before continuing. “I was frustrated, but I… I understood. I’m sure that if I knew Adrien loved someone else, but he wouldn’t tell me… I’d want to know just as badly.”
Tikki hummed in assent. “So you told him?”
“I told him. And he seemed surprised? For some reason? And then he started laughing? But it didn’t seem like he was laughing at me, just at the whole situation somehow. I don’t understand that, though, because what’s funny about…
any
of that?” Marinette brought her hands to her temples again. “This is just all so confusing.”
“I can see how that would be strange.” Tikki landed gently on the side of Marinette’s bed, snuggling close to her arms. “Was that why you shouted?”
Marinette sighed. “No, that wasn’t what made me upset. He said some things about Adrien that just weren’t true! I can understand being jealous, but saying bad things about anyone-- as if he even has
any
idea what Adrien’s like! Any idea what he’s going through!” Marinette huffed, rolling onto her back and throwing her arms out to either side, sending Tikki flying. “I never should have told him.”
Tikki flitted back over. “Wait a minute, Marinette. I think you were right to tell him. The two of you need to trust each other, and keeping secrets won’t help to strengthen your bond. Besides, you said yourself that if you were in his position, you’d have acted the same way.”
Marinette sat up at this. “I didn’t say that! I would have been just as curious, but I never would have reacted the way he did!”
“Whoa, calm down, Marinette! You’re right, he didn’t need to react the way he did. Both of you made mistakes, but your partnership is stronger now!”
“I really don’t know, Tikki.” Marinette stood up wearily and walked to her dresser, slowly pulling the pigtails out of her hair. “I have no idea what I’m going to say to him next time we see each other.” She placed the last ribbon on the dresser and turned around. “I mean, how are we supposed to save Paris with this hanging over our heads?” She dragged a brush irritably through her smooth hair. “Ughhhhh, I hate arguments!”
The trapdoor in the floor swung open, and Marinette’s mother poked her head through.
“Marinette? Who are you talking to?”
“Uhhh--” Marinette dropped the brush in surprise. “I’m-- uh-- Alya!” she fumbled for her phone, waving it in the air. “I’m taking to Alya, we’re plating some mans-- making some plans-- for a group project!”
Marinette’s mother laughed, shaking her head. “Well, you tell Alya that you need to help your parents in the bakery in ten minutes.”
“Okay!” Marinette held a weak smile until the hatch had completely lowered to the floor, and then promptly sank back onto her desk. “What am I going to do?”
Tikki flitted out from behind the mirror. “Well, Marinette, it sounds like the two of you should talk about this. It might help to see a different point of view!”
Marinette sighed. “You’re probably right. For now, though, I guess I’ll go help in the bakery.” she opened the trapdoor and paused. “Tikki?”
“Yes, Marinette?”
“Thank you. For listening, and always being here for me.”
“You’re welcome, Marinette!
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Adrien leaned his chin on his hand, feeling the breeze from the window ruffle his hair and his chinese papers. The lights of Paris were no less dazzling tonight than ever, but regret had won out in the battle between his feelings, leaving him in a melancholy haze. Tapping his pencil against the windowsill, desperately trying to remember the sequence of verbs he was to memorize, he sighed. The pencil lead cracked, splintering against the metal of the sill, and Adrien sent it sailing out into the night with a cry of exasperation.As he heard the pencil hit the ground far below his window, Adrien felt a pang. That’s one perfectly good pencil out the window. He slumped facedown on the sill, only to feel Plagg tugging at his hair.“Helloooo? Earth to Adrien?” Plagg gave Adrien’s bangs one final yank, causing him to shoot up in surprise, sending the kwami flying.“What, Plagg? Can’t you see I’m studying?”Plagg scoffed, poking his head up from behind the couch. “Oh, yeah? I think sulking is the word you’re looking for.” He zipped over to the coffee table, picking at Adrien’s untouched dinner plate, now sitting cold and forgotten. “What do you say we go on patrol?”Adrien sighed again. “Do we have to? It’s a tuesday night,” he groaned, starting towards the coffee table. “And stop eating my food.”“Like you were gonna eat it,” Plagg shot back around a mouthful of chicken alfredo. “Come onnnn, when have you ever said no to eleven o’clock rounds?”Adrien cast his eyes to the ground. “I’m just… not sure Ladybug would want to see me right now.”“Sounds more like you might be afraid to see her ,” Plagg grumbled. “You’re thinking too much! Just get out of the house.”“Why are you bossing me around all of a sudden? You’re the kwami who would rather laze around eating cheese all day than lift a finger to save paris, remember? Or did you hit your head when you fell behind the couch?” Adrien settled himself firmly on the couch in question.Plagg rolled his eyes. “Listen, when you get to be as old as I am, you can ‘laze around’ all you want. Right now, though, I can tell you need to get out and clear your head. You’re Chat Noir, protector of paris, remember? Or did you hit your head too hard on the windowsill,” Plagg mocked.“Fine.” Adrien stood up, stretching slowly, and mumbled, “Plagg, claws out.”When his transformation ended, Chat sat crouched on the windowsill. Pushing off with all his might, he sprung into the night. As his feet left the metal, Chat felt a weight fall away from his mind. He relished the feel of the air buffeting his face as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, heard the sound of his footsteps on shingles and metal and stone, bathed in the light from the moon. It was a relatively quiet night, as Chat had expected. He paused at the tip of the Eiffel Tower, admiring the city below him, not ready to head home just yet. He needed to find a place where he could relax, he decided. Somewhere Ladybug, who was undoubtedly also out on patrol, wouldn’t find him. Deciding on the Jardin des Tuileries, Chat plunged his pole towards the ground and took to the air once again.Touching down as he reached the gardens, Chat let out a breath. The path to the central fountain stretched out in front of him, lined with budding trees and plots of spring flowers still glowing with living color despite the dark of the evening. Marble statues kept watch over the flowers, their faces iridescent in the starlight. Chat smiled. No matter how many times he visited this place, it always left him speechless.As he walked toward the fountain, he began to think out loud. “So, I messed up, right? But what should I say? How do I make it up to her?” He leaned against a statue of a woman, taking her slim white hand in his own. “I am sorry, My Lady,” he bowed with a dramatic flourish. “I have made a most grievous error. Had I not been so controlled by my long-burning love for you-- wait, no,” Chat shook his head. “That’s not right. I had been blinded by my own self-interest.” His voice gradually began to lose its theatrical tone as he continued his speech. “I’m sorry I pushed you. I’m sorry I… I hurt the one I love. I’ve always said I would go to the ends of the earth to protect you, but I never imagined I would be the one to hurt you instead. You mean more to me than any argument in the world. Our partnership is… the best thing in my life, and if I’ve ruined that--” Chat’s voice broke. “I’m truly sorry. Will you forgive me?” He kissed the statue’s hand and looked up.The statue, stone-faced, did not reply.After a moment, Chat let his hand drop, shaking his head. “Tough crowd,” he muttered with a dry laugh as he continued to walk. When he reached the fountain, he sat down on its edge and stared at his reflection in the water, an obsidian mirror in the night. Two green cat-eyes stared back at him, framed by a black mask, windblown hair, flushed cheeks… the face of the man who upset his Ladybug. Chat drew a single clawed finger through the water, dispelling the reflection and sending ripples to the edges of the fountain.Just as the water had almost become calm again, Chat heard a soft footfall behind him. He whirled around, staff at the ready, only to be greeted by an all too familiar polka dotted silhouette.“Chat?” Ladybug whispered, stepping closer. ***** Marinette awoke with a start, facedown on her desk in a pile of papers. As she groggily sat up, wiping a string of drool from her chin, Tikki flitted over.“Good evening, Marinette!”“Guhev’ning,” Marinette mumbed, attempting to organize her papers. The ink had run on one of her sketches, most likely from the drool. She piled them haphazardly in her drawers, checking the time on her phone: almost eleven. So much for her brainstorming session.“Almost time for patrol, huh Marinette?” Tikki said with a chipper smile. “Ready to take down some bad guys?”“It’s a tuesday night,” Marinette smiled back. “Not sure how much action we’ll get, but I’d love to get outside.” The prospect of patrol excited Marinette. Baking with her parents had helped her to take her mind off of the argument for a bit, but now anxious thoughts were creeping in again. “Tikki, spots on!”Ladybug climbed up onto her balcony, breathing deeply. The air held the slight chill of early spring, just beginning to carry the scent of reborn flowers. A pleasant shiver ran down her spine, and she threw her yo-yo. She let out a laugh, shooting into the sky.Her route was done quickly, no crises in sight other than an extremely old woman who had gone for a walk much too late and was struggling to find her way home. Ladybug helped the woman and continued on her way, deciding she needed to find a place to sit and think. She wanted to go somewhere that reminded her of Adrien. The Jardin des Tuileries, perhaps? That was one of Adrien’s most frequent photoshoot locations, and a beautiful spot regardless of the presence of boy models. Hopping over the Louvre and sliding down its glass pyramid, she walked across the courtyard to the edge of the gardens.The scenery was just as beautiful at night as it was in the daytime, especially since the flowers were beginning to bloom again. Marinette smiled, scanning for a comfortable place to sit down. She settled on sitting in the grass with her back against a tree, facing away from the path to look further into the garden. She couldn’t wait for Adrien’s next photoshoot; the thought of his beauty next to all of these flowers was overwhelming.Adrien… for some reason, she felt a twinge of sadness on his behalf. To work so incredibly hard for both himself and his family, only to have people like Chat Noir still think so poorly of him… it was heartbreaking.On the other hand, Chat Noir… Ladybug wasn’t sure what to think about his reaction to her confession. She had given it some thought, and it seemed probable that jealousy had been the source of Chat’s bitter comments. She couldn’t begrudge him for feeling the way he did, but his negativity still disappointed her. Next to that, she couldn’t explain away his laughter. He had acted so strange.Then again, Ladybug had to admit that she wasn’t without blame either. She regretted shouting, regretted overthinking everything, regretted the whole incident, just wanted to go back to the way things had been before, just wanted to stop worrying --Ladybug felt her breath begin to move faster and faster, the grip of her arms around her knees tightening. Shoving her face into the crook of her elbow, she tried to stop the tears that sprang to her eyes without success. The bark of the tree dug into her back as she tried to keep from shaking, the only thought in her mind breathe, breathe, breathe , clinging tightly to herself. Slowly, she shifted her focus to the tree bark, anchoring to the feeling of its rough crags against her spine. She didn’t know how long it had been, but eventually her breaths began to slow. She zeroed in on the sensation, intentionally pulling air in and out and in and out and in. She was so completely occupied that the sound of footsteps close behind her didn’t register in her brain. That is, until they were accompanied by an unmistakable voice.“So, I messed up, right?”The air caught in Ladybug’s lungs. They started working without her consent, pushing air faster, but she pulled against them, struggling to reign in her racing heartbeat. Tree. Grass. Arms. In. Out. Tree. In. Grass. Out. Arms… She managed to pull her heavy head out of her elbow, wiping snot and tears from her face. She could still hear Chat’s voice, slightly further away, carried to her by the breeze. Letting the tension drain from her limbs, she couldn’t help but catch bits and pieces of his conversation.“I am sorry, My Lady…”Ladybug’s eyes widened as she realized he was addressing her . She sat completely silent, not knowing whether to reply.“I have made a most grievous error…”She listened as Chat continued. His voice, although dramatic at first, seemed to shed layers as words spilled out until Ladybug could hear the raw edge of genuine emotion. His words wrapped around her, tangling in her hair and fluttering past her face, filling her with a sense of wonderment. The weight of his heart was apparent in his speech. When the words stopped coming, Ladybug simply sat in stunned silence, still turning them over in her head. Just as she realized that the garden was quiet, not knowing at all how much time had passed since the end of the speech, Chat muttered something quietly, snapping her out of her reverie.As his footsteps receded, Ladybug sighed to herself. It seemed she wasn’t the only one worrying about their divide. The best thing to do, she decided, was to go talk to him, but she wasn’t sure she trusted herself to stand up quite yet. She ran her fingers through the grass, taking a few more deep breaths before standing up and steadying herself against the tree. Ladybug made her way back to the path and followed it slowly, looking out for any sign of Chat. Soon, the path opened up, facing the vast fountain. Sitting small on its edge was a familiar black figure.She took a step forward, but before she could go any further Chat sprung into a defensive position. She drew in a breath sharply, holding her hands out in front of her.“Chat?” She whispered across the night between them, taking another step. “It’s just me, Ladybug.”She watched his shoulders drop as he lowered his staff. “L-ladybug? What are you-- I mean how are-- how was patrol?”Ladybug let out a soft laugh, crossing towards him. “Patrol was fine. Are you doing all right?”Chat ran a hand through his hair and over his ears, offering a sheepish smile. “Purrfect, Milady, just a little skittish. Um, are you… have I… Um…” his eyes darted around nervously, and Ladybug could tell the cat was floundering. She sat down on the fountain’s edge and motioned for him to join her.“I think we should talk,” she said as he sat down, managing to sound much more confident than she felt. This is a good start. “I-- um, yeah, we--”“I wanted to say… I’m sorry.” Ladybug looked down at her hands. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I was hurt by your laughter, but… shouting wasn’t right. So, yeah. I apologize.”Chat was quiet for a moment. “Actually… I think you did the right thing,” He began after a beat. “You defended the honor of someone you love in true Ladybug fashion. And since you’re someone that I, um, that I love… I’m sorry I put you in the position that I did. It’s-- well, I-- I can’t really explain why I laughed, in that moment, and I, uh, regret it a lot. I care about our partnership more than anything, so please believe me when I say I’m really sorry.”“It’s all right.” Ladybug put her hand on Chat’s shoulder and looked him in the face. “As long as we can rely on each other to communicate about when we’ve been hurt, and trust each other to know we care enough to make it right, that’s what matters to me.”Chat broke Ladybug’s gaze. “Actually, uh, that’s something I wanted to talk to you about. When you, well, you said that stuff about me cataclysm-ing someone’s face off? And, uh, about me asking you out to dinner? And that--”Ladybug gasped. “Oh, no, Kitty I’m so sorry! I was only joking--”“I know you were, bugaboo, I know. But… it still hurt, you know? I had no idea you felt that way-- that you thought of me--” Chat stopped to take a breath, and Ladybug felt a new wave of guilt begin to settle in her stomach. “I just…” Chat continued, “I just don’t want to be that to you, you know? I’m really sorry for making you feel uncomfortable, and I don’t want you to think of me that way.”Ladybug took his hand. “Chat, I’m sorry, I never meant anything bad. I… I don’t see you that way. I value you a lot, and since I know that hurt you, I’ll really try not to say things like that again.”“And I’ll really try not to make you uncomfortable again,” Chat smiled, squeezing her hand. “Thanks for listening. Like you said, we just need to trust that we care about each other.”“Yeah,” Ladybug tried to say, but the word came out as a whisper. Her throat felt thick and her eyes prickled, but the most prominent sensation was a cool wave of relief. “Thank you. And, um… sorry about the whole ‘being in love with someone else’ thing.”“Don’t mention it,” Chat said with a slight smile. “I really do care more about our friendship than about whoever you’re in love with, okay?”“Thanks,” Ladybug rasped again, pulling the cat into a hug.Chat Noir laughed, his breath ruffling her hair. “Partners?” He asked the crown of her head.“Partners,” she affirmed, smiling into the warm leather of his shoulder.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“They’re so in sync!” Marinette grinned as Alya and Nino danced in front of the TV in Alya’s living room. Nino spun Alya with a laugh, and Marinette couldn’t help but applaud. “Right?” Adrien smiled from the screen of Marinette’s phone as Alya dipped Nino, the brim of his cap reaching toward the ground. “I wish I could find somebody I could share everything with, like they do…”Marinette thought she noticed a wistful look in Adrien’s eyes, and she felt a tug at her heart. Opening her mouth to express some sympathy, she couldn’t seem to find the right words. Luckily, Adrien continued talking without noticing. “But, until my father starts letting me go out more, that’s probably not going to happen.” He flashed another sad smile. “W-well, uh, you know…” Marinette blushed. “I’d be more than happy to, um, hair with-- er, share with, um, with y--”Adrien’s laugh was warm, though slightly distorted through the phone speakers, cutting her off. “Thanks, Marinette! You’re a great friend. I know I can always count on you, but you don’t need to say stuff like that just to make me feel better! I promise I’m not too lonely,” he said with a wink. Right , Marinette thought. Just a friend. Would she ever be able to make Adrien see her as anything more?Adrien looked sheepishly away from the camera. “And… Just maybe… I might already have my eye on someone.”Marinette’s stomach dropped into her ballet flats. “W-Wait, What?” She giggled nervously. “I-- I mean-- that’s cool? That’s cool! Who?” she turned to watch intently as Alya and Nino danced, feeling her face grow hot as tears threatened to spring into her eyes. Adrien had his eye on someone ? What did that mean? And why hadn’t she known? Not that she should have known, of course, why had she thought she was important enough to know--“I wouldn’t normally tell anyone this,” Adrien continued, his voice low, derailing Marinette’s spiraling thoughts, “But you’re one of my best friends, Marinette. Something happened recently and, well… I know I can trust you with my feelings.”Best Friends? Trusted with his feelings? Marinette felt like she was experiencing emotional whiplash. The crazy thing was, Marinette knew Adrien had no idea how such simple words from him could make her feel. “Y-yeah?” Marinette stuttered, trying to play it cool while her thoughts raced a mile a minute. “Well, um, thanks A-adrien, um, what d-do you mean?”“Promise you won’t make fun of me?” Adrien cast his eyes down, looking at something out of the camera’s view. “Of course not!” Marinette widened her eyes in sincerity and clumsily mimed crossing her heart. Was Adrien Agreste really going to talk to her about his… feelings?“Thanks, Marinette.” Adrien’s grateful smile made Marinette’s heart skip a beat. “The truth is… the person I have feelings for… is Ladybug.”
Ladybug.
Ladybug???
Marinette’s hands went weak, fumbling and dropping her phone between the couch cushions. Ladybug? Alya and nino’s song ended. Although the room was silent, Marinette heard Adrien say those words again and again in her mind-- “the person I have feelings for… is Ladybug.”
Ladybug.
“Marinette?” Adrien’s muffled voice broke the silence. “Guys? You all right? My screen just went dark.”“Sorry!” Marinette squeaked, coming to her senses and fishing in the couch for her phone. “Just dropped you, that’s all!”Alya laughed and turned to Marinette. “Come take a turn dancing, girl! Your hands are getting tired from all that phone holding!”Marinette shook her head. “No, that’s ok! I’m having so much fun watching you guys!”“All right, suit yourself!” Nino smiled and spun Alya around once more, clicking with the TV remote on the next song. As the music started up again, Marinette turned to Adrien. She opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to it.“So, what do you think?”Marinette looked at the coffee table the couch, the dancers, anywhere but her phone. “About-- Ladybug? I’m sorry, did you just say you had feelings for Ladybug? Is that what you said? That you-- Ladybug? Because--”“Whoa, Marinette, slow down!” Adrien cut in. “Yeah, that’s… how I feel. What do you think? Do you have any advice?”“About… you and L-Ladybug?” Marinette tried to stop and think rationally about the situation, but her brain was too much of a jumble to form any coherent thought. Finally, she blurted out, “Why?”Adrien looked taken aback. “Why? What do you mean, why?”“I-- I mean-- you don’t even know who she is!”“I don’t have to!” Adrien smiled. “I know that she’s beautiful, and kind, and heroic--”“That’s her job!”“I know, but it’s more than that! She makes difficult decisions with integrity, and always has brilliant ideas! She’s so confident, too! I love to see her at work!”Marinette was speechless. Her brain was having a hard time processing the situation. Adrien, the boy Marinette loved, was in front of her telling her all the things he loved about… someone else. But that someone else was her! And also, not her. Ladybug. “B-but she’s Ladybug ! I mean, y-you pant causibly-- can’t possibly--” Marinette was at a loss.Adrien smiled, cutting her off again. “And that’s the thing! I never thought in a million years I’d be able to say this-- or even think it-- but something happened recently that made me think… well… that maybe Ladybug likes me too!”“ What ?” Marinette couldn’t help raising her voice. If Alya and Nino had noticed, Marinette wasn’t aware; she was too busy following a rapidly twisting pathway of thoughts. How did he know? How did anyone know? Sure, everyone seemed to know she, Marinette , had a crush on Adrien, but if Adrien knew that Ladybug had a crush on him, that must mean that somebody knew Ladybug was Marinette! But who could-- and how did-- “Marinette? Is everything all right?”Marinette tried to remember everywhere she had transformed and detransformed, working backwards from last night on her balcony, that afternoon in the school bathroom-- which now that she thought of it had probably been a bad move but she had been in a rush--“Marinette?”She had thought she was in the clear, but she supposed she couldn’t be sure nobody had seen her-- but if someone had seen her, wouldn’t their first priority be to tell the world that Marinette was Ladybug, not to specifically tell Adrien that Ladybug had a crush on him? She had to admit it sounded absurd… so did that mean somebody had caught her staring a little too long at one of Adrien’s posters while she was transformed? Or seen her blush when she had to save Adrien from an Akuma and Chat wasn’t around to help? Or-- Oh--“Oh, good, Nora, you’re home! I think we broke Marinette…”Oh-- Chat, oh no… “How many times do I have to tell you! It’s Anansi!”No, no, no -- Chat was the only one who knew about Ladybug’s crush on Adrien. In an instant, Marinette knew what had happened-- Chat must have been the one to go and tell Adrien about-- that she--Marinette flopped suddenly backwards onto the couch, much to the surprise of everyone who had gathered around her when she had been lost in thought. Ignoring their reactions, she simply pressed her hands over her eyes and groaned--“ That stupid cat! ” *****Adrien leaned back in his desk chair, absently clicking through photos on his computer. Scrolling to one of him (well, Chat) and Ladybug that he’d saved from the Ladyblog because it had captured a singularly beautiful look Ladybug had given him-- him smiling at the camera, she a few steps behind with that rare kind smile trained on the back of his head, not quite in “paparazzi” mode yet-- he stopped. “Are you moping around being lovesick again?” Plagg whined. “Let’s get some food or something, come on!”Adrien spun his chair around with a smile. “Not moping, Plagg. Just… thinking.” His eyebrows knit together in an exaggerated expression of speculation, causing Plagg to let out a snort of laughter. After pensively tapping his chin for a few more seconds, Adrien let his face fall. “I told someone about her today, Plagg.”“Told who about what?”“I told someone about Ladybug.”“You had to tell someone about Ladybug?” Plagg smirked. “With all the flying around saving Paris she does, I thought everybody woulda already known about her!”Adrien smiled reluctantly. “Very funny, Plagg. I mean I told someone about… my feelings for her.”“Euagh!” Plagg stuck out his tongue. “Boring!”Adrien, however, did not seem to be listening. “It… didn’t really go how I thought it would. I told Marinette, and she said-- Augh!”A crash sounded in the street just outside Adrien’s window, cutting him off and causing him to let out an involuntary shout.“She said what?” Plagg snickered, but Adrien had already rushed to the window to look out. He usually couldn’t see much over the wall that enclosed the grounds of the Agreste mansion, but he spotted this akuma right away. It was, as he and Ladybug sometimes jokingly called this type of akumatization, a tank . Big, dumb, and destructive. It looked sort of like… a giant robot made out of cars? Adrien couldn’t help but wonder about the story behind that one. He jumped in surprise as the monster staggered and fell into the wall right in front of his window, sending Ladybug, who must have already been fighting the thing, right towards- oh god- straight through his window. He dove out of the way just as she tumbled facedown onto his couch. He rushed over to help, but she was already picking herself up. No sooner had she stood and looked at him, however, than she had walked right into the coffee table and stumbled back down again. “A-Adrien!” She stuttered, trying and failing to regain her footing. “I’m so sorry about my--I mean, this-- I mean-- you need to get somewhere safe!” Still on the floor, Ladybug’s eyes darted around the room-- to the piano, the television-- everywhere, Adrien noticed, but his face. Taking pity on her, Adrien reached down and held out a hand to Ladybug in an attempt to help her up. Wordlessy, she slipped her fingers into his, letting him help her while still not meeting his eyes. A jolt of electricity shot through Adrien at her touch but he steadied his nerves. “LAdybug!” Adrien’s voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. “Thanks for… er… dropping in! What are you--I mean, how are you-- um…” Adrien trailed off, noticing Plagg floating in the air behind Ladybug’s head, rolling his eyes. Adrien widened his own at the kwami, trying to shoo him away with a short wave of his right hand (the hand that wasn’t-- oh god-- holding Ladybug’s). Plagg, however, didn’t take the hint. Ladybug, now standing again, dropped Adrien’s hand quickly and shuffled her feet. “Thank you. Um. Well, I should be-- um--” she screwed her eyes shut and let out a breath. When she opened them, her voice was calm, although her face was still a bit… red? “Please go somewhere safe. This will be over soon. Chat noir is coming to help.” Ladybug spun Adrien around by the shoulders and gave him a shove toward the hallway. “I’ll be back soon. Lay low for now.” Before Adrien could turn back around to watch her go, the whir of a yo-yo told him that Ladybug was gone. As fast as he could, Adrien snatched Plagg out of the air and held him to his face. “What the hell did you think you were doing just now?”Plagg shrugged. “Doing better than you were, loverboy!”“Ugh, just transform me,” Adrien groaned. “Plagg, claws out.” Transformation complete, Adrien ran into the hallway and up the stairs to the roof. He wished he could have just left through the window, but then Ladybug could have guessed that he was Chat Noir… then again, he wondered, would that be such a bad thing? Running to the edge of the roof, he checked the screen of his staff: five new messages from Ladybug, the top reading “ i said tank on the loose!!! come on!!! ”Chat launched himself down into the street, landing squarely on the car monster’s head-- well, the uppermost car of the sentient pile. “Sorry for the delay, M’lady, I was taking a little catnap. What’s the story with this one?”“Catnap?” Ladybug huffed, landing next to Chat. “Honestly not sure. All of these cars have parking tickets though, so my guess is either ‘guy who got a parking ticket on a bad day’ or ‘frustrated meter-maid’-- Ugh!” Ladybug lassoed the monster’s arm, pulling it back as it reached out to swipe at a building, grunting at the effort. “Whatever its is, we need to find its akuma, and fast. Any ideas?”“Ha!” Chat let out a sharp laugh. “Can you imagine that one? I mean-- let’s see--” he cleared his throat and slid into a comically deep voice. “ Metermaster-- I am Hawkmoth. Nobody ever pays enough money for parking. It’s sickening. I will give you the power to- ” Chat dissolved into giggles. “To what? Build a giant mech out of ticketed cars? While you’re at it, bring me ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous-- with what, your giant car hands?” He doubled over, clutching his stomach. Bad idea. He slipped down the car monster’s back, having lost his balance. “Whoa!”“Nice one, Kitty,” Ladybug chirped, shooting him a sharp look. “Akuma now. Talk later.”“Fine, fine, forgive me for trying to lion the mood.” “How about trying to get a hit in?” “Touché, Bugaboo.” Chat sprang up from the street at the monster, staff spinning. Unfortunately, that didn’t have much of an effect on the monster’s giant car legs. He glanced up at Ladybug. She seemed a little off… and was she sweating? Ladybug never broke a sweat. Chat wanted to end the battle as soon as possible, but he didn’t have any idea what to cataclysm. He hopped up to where Ladybug was still attempting to restrain the creature’s arms. “Tell me what to destroy and I’ll do it, M’lady, but I really don’t know what we’re looking for here.”“You t-think I do?” Ladybug strained, holding her yo-yo strings ever tighter. “This thing is a pile of cars that all look the same! The akuma could be in one of them, but which-- ugh--”“Whoa!” Chat reached out to steady her. “Let me take arm duty for now. How about a Lucky Charm?”Ladybug rolled her eyes but released her grip on the yo-yo. The monster lurched forward, and Chat jumped to dance back and forth between its arms, distracting it from any buildings or civilians. Ladybug thrust her arm into the air and called for her Lucky Charm in possibly the most deadpan voice Chat had ever heard her use. A bag of sugar fell into her palm.“Sugar? What am I supposed to do with this?”“Think we should pour it in the gas tank?” Chat joked. Ladybug seemed to consider this for a moment. “Hmmm, maybe… but which one?”“Wait, really?” Chat raised his eyebrows. “Uhhh… how much sugar you got?”“I don’t know. If you open the tanks, I’ll pour. Ready?”“On it, My Lady.” He jumped into action, zipping around the gargantuan car tower flipping open gas hatches left and right with Ladybug close behind. In seconds the monster’s movements became sluggish, its car limbs grinding to a halt. Chat stood dumbfounded.“Wait, that actually worked? I thought things like that were controlled with, like, weird Hawkmoth magic, not fossil fuels,” he snickered. Ladybug just jabbed him with her elbow. “Cataclysm. Now. the whole thing. It seems like it’s all connected.”“All right. Wow, we’re just winging it today, aren’t we.” Chat took a deep breath and mimicked Ladybug’s apathetic tone. “Cataclysm.” He stuck his hand to the robot monster thing.As the mass of cars dissolved, a single purple butterfly emerged from the very top. It hardly had time to beat its wings before Ladybug had it in her yo-yo.“No more evildoing for you, little Akuma,” she sighed as she released it, tossing the sugar bag into the air. “Miraculous Ladybug.”A lone man in a reflective vest with a pencil and pad full of parking tickets sat dazed in the street, but Ladybug turned to walk away without checking on him. Chat Noir rushed after her. “Hey, Bugaboo! Wait up! We didn’t ‘pound it’ yet! What’s wrong, are you all r--”“Did you tell him?” Ladybug spun around, face flushed.“Did I-- what? What are you--”“Adrien Agreste.” The name was perfectly enunciated. “Did you tell him?”“Tell him what? About your--”“Did you tell him that I’m in love with him?” Chat didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t had to tell Adrien anything, because, well… “No,” he answered after a moment. “No, why would I have--”“I don’t believe you.”“What?”“I don’t believe you!” Ladybug’s eyes were hard, but there was something about her gaze that still made Chat’s heart soft as jelly.“What do you mean?”Ladybug turned away. “I know you told him. Because… he told me.”“ What? ”“Adrien told me he knew Ladybug was in love with him! So you must have told him, because who else would have-- I mean who else could-- and I saw him today, and things were awkward, because he knew , and I knew he knew, and-- and I told him I would be back! Oh, god! Why did I tell him-- I’m sorry, I have to go!”With that, Ladybug took off, leaving Chat standing shocked in the street with the reflective vest man still sitting a few meters away. He took a step over to the man, flashing him an awkward thumbs up when, all at once, he realized why Ladybug had left in such a hurry. She had told Adrien she would be back. She was going to Adrien’s house. His house. And he wasn’t there. Chat vaulted away as fast as his pole could carry him, landing on his roof in a pile of limbs and detransforming in the stairwell. He rushed down the hall to his room, stopping himself just short of the doorway to fix his hair in the glass covering of a painting. Breathing deeply in and out once, he opened the door and made sure to slam it closed before Plagg could follow im in the room. Not that a closed door would make much difference to a Kwami, but Adrien could only hope. Ladybug was already standing in the center of the room. When she saw him come in, she took a step towards him, but stopped. Neither of them said anything for a moment. Although he could feel his face heating up, Adrien steeled his nerves and made the first move“Y-you came back.” Damn. He had been hoping to hide the quaver in his voice. “Is it safe now?”“Ah, um, yes. Everything is--” Ladybug’s Miraculous beeped and she jumped, one hand flying to her ear. “Well… thanks for, you know, keeping Paris safe.” “Yes. Um. Actually, what I wanted-- I mean, the reason I-- Ugh!” she threw her hands in the air. “This is stupid. I’m sorry. I just wanted to tell you that… it’s true. What you heard. About me.”Adrien couldn’t conceal the blush that filled his cheeks. “About you? What are you… You mean, that you…” He couldn’t seem to find the right words, but Ladybug smiled.“Yeah. I do.” She looked down at her hands. “And, um, it’s okay if you don’t.. If you’re not--”“I am! I mean, I do! I mean-- How could anyone not love--” Adrien’s mind was running in overdrive. This couldn’t be real. It wasn’t possible. And yet, as Ladybug’s miraculous sounded its familiar high-pitched beep again, making them both wince, he couldn’t deny that it was true: he and Ladybug had just confessed to each other. Seeing her standing here, fresh from an Akuma fight, in his room, Adrien knew Ladybug hadn’t been just trying to cover up her identity when she had first told him. This was, crazy as it seemed, real. Also, on a somewhat related note, he and Ladybug were somehow much closer together than they had been when their conversation had started? Adrien could see the sweat from the battle still glistening on her skin. It was all he could do not to reach out and brush it away… and then he thought, why shouldn’t he? And then he did. As he raised his arm, he noticed much to his regret that his fingers were shaking, but there was no going back now. His eyes darted away from Ladybug’s confused look as he laid his hand on her forehead, gently brushing a bead of sweat away from its course toward her eye. Her face flared as red as her mask. “Ah, sorry,” Adrien mumbled, pulling his hand away. “I was, um…”Ladybug caught his hand in hers before he could bring it all the way down. Wordlessly, she held it to her cheek, giving him a shy smile.Adrien could have melted. The warmth of her skin on his fingertips made his heart flip a figure eight in his chest. “Oh, um. Okay,” he said, or thought he said, but he really didn’t have much control over any part of his body right now--Ladybug put a finger to his lips. Whoa. When had they gotten so close? He could feel her breath, hear how deliberately she pulled air in and out, could almost taste it. Adrien's own breath hitched as Ladybug moved his hand to her hip, resting her hands on his shoulders. Slowly, she began to sway from side to side. Eyes wide, he mirrored her movement, heart soaring as their tentative dance grew from swaying to stepping to spinning--The miraculous beeped its final warning. Startled, Ladybug took a step back, and Adrien’s hand fell to empty air. He looked down at his shoes, and she spoke.“Well, I should-”“Yeah…”“Um, thank you for--”“Thanks for, uh, you know--”Their words overlapped. Ladybug let out a giggle. Adrien smiled, chancing a look at her face. God , she was breathtaking. Ladybug took a step toward the window, raising her eyes to his for just a split second before looking away again. She went to take another step away, but stopped short. Before Adrien, still standing dumb as a doorknob, could blink, Ladybug was in front of him again. A strand of her hair brushed his cheek, and Adrien could have sworn he lost feeling in all of his limbs, every nerve focused on that one point of contact. And then, something else happened. For an instant, Ladybug pressed her lips to his. Adrien had hardly registered what was happening before she was at the windowsill again, flashing him one last small smile. Lips tingling, face on fire, Adrien could only watch in wonder as the girl of his dreams shot away into the night.